Huzzah! No shutdown! 'til October! Wait, what?

After announcing the bipartisan agreement, Obama walked away from the podium and was believed to have mumbled, "...and abortion is illegal now." *cough* *cough*

washing ashore

washing ashore, a photo by Ryan Vaarsi on Flickr.

I thought this was a throw-away shot at first. I was playing with my Speedlight and wanted to see what would happen if I just dumped it right on to my subject a la Weegee. Kenobi could have done without the annoyance, but he's never understood my needs, artistically speaking. After a few adjustments in Aperture I got something with some intriguing textures to it. And my 10-trillionth shot of Kenobi.

afternoon errands, Hoboken, NJ

afternoon errands, Hoboken, NJ, a photo by Ryan Vaarsi on Flickr.

Another shot from the part of Hoboken that most people don't see, mainly because there aren't any bars on Observer Highway. The scene reminds me of the cover from Physical Graffiti. I should go over to St. Mark's sometime and try and replicate that. Or not. Whatever.

My inner geek's head just exploded!!!!

I frakkin' ADORE these books! I know, I know, they won't be able to REALLY do them justice, but still....

Newark St., Hoboken, NJ

Newark St., Hoboken, NJ, a photo by Ryan Vaarsi on Flickr.

Hoboken is, without a doubt, the most gorgeous city in the world and the inflated property values bare this out.

Maxim

Maxim, a photo by Ryan Vaarsi on Flickr.

Words to live by.

Yeesh...fetal ideas....etc.

I just Googled Brain Bubbles and found three other blogs with the same name. Gonna have to step-up that new moniker for my little scratch pad here. Something that's still to do with embolisms would be nice.

I like the idea of possibly writing something using the "characters" from around my office. Very exaggerated versions of them, obviously, and with different, very sarcastic names that sound vaguely like Web handles. I've come up with a handful already, based on the simply awful things I've said about them on Twitter. So far there's:

• SalesDouche: straight out of Glengarry, Glen Ross, without all of Mamet's brilliant dialogue.
• WaferThin: she's emaciated! Like her brain!
• ProfessionalWhiner: The Empress of Entitlement Land
• EmphysemaFace: Two pack-a-day smoker with the long, loud, hacking cough to prove it.

One or two more ought to suffice. Possibly based on people I like? Gotta find some of those...

My love's gaze

My love's gaze, a photo by Ryan Vaarsi on Flickr.

Pimpin' ain't easy, but apparently being a ho' is paying better than ever

I'm not feeling especially well today, so it's possible that I'm overreacting to this piece from Think Progress. But my gut-level disgust at American culture has been growing exponentially for quite some time now, so I'm going to assume that the nausea I'm feeling is more along the lines of a rational physical symptom inspired by this latest bit of irrational news.

It shouldn't surprise anyone to hear that a Palin is involved in bilking a charity, particularly one that may not have even been created with the most charitable of intentions. This is a family whose matriarch makes Huey Long seem like the soul of selflessness and civic duty. I've no inclination to run through the laundry list of sins committed by Klan Palin; I think they're fairly well etched into the public consciousness and my stomach's only just stopped heaving. But this kind of thing seems to have become a generational affair. The mother's obviously passed her polecat-like survival instincts on to her offspring.

I think the Daily Kos said it best:

"I think the takeaway message here is that baby out of wedlock = BEST. DECISION. EVER."

Indeed had I, in my wildest pubescent fantasies, ever dreamt that a teen pregnancy could turn out so splendidly, I would have gotten my high school girlfriend with-child toot sweet, before a year-and-a-half of chemotherapy turned my swimmers into little more than microscopic bumper cars.

Working from home & other things that don't suck

I haven't worn underwear in 48 hours. I've spent all the last two days in my PJs and slippers. It's like being Hef. Well, OK, not entirely. I don't smoke a pipe and there's a deplorable lack of half-naked women in my apartment. But otherwise the comparison is spot-on. The laptop is set up on the kitchen table and there's been a steady stream of work-related emails flying out to various parts of the eastern US, England and Asia. Quiet music accompanies the tapping of the keys (at the moment it's a track off of Yann Tiersen's wonderful Amelie soundtrack), which is a vast improvement over the constant chatter of SalesDouche, CompulsiveWhiner and LadyCoughAllDay. Needless to say, I'm not missing CubicleHell one bit.